Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Parfact
| Tcafrap | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | United Kingdom |
| Region | Worcestershire |
| See also: Language games | |
"Parfact" is an example of a cryptolect originating from the Worcestershire area of the UK. Similar to the use of "Cant" (a secret language supposedly used by rogues and vagabonds in Elizabethan England), "Parfact" is thought to have been devised by a group of local teenagers in the mid-1990s as a secret language to conceal true meaning from their peers. Elements of the cryptolect have, however, crept into mainstream use in Worcester and can often be overheard within general conversation in the historic city.
Elements in use
Characterised by the word parfact itself (thought to be a corruption of the word "perfect"), Parfact encompasses a wide range of covert principles, from the most basic use of opposites (ie. "yes" becomes "no", albeit pronounced in a rather obnoxious, exaggerated tone eg. "NNNOOOOOOOOOO"), through to the addition of extra syllables to add hidden meaning to words ("loser" becomes losazer, pronounced "LOO-ZA-ZEER"). Controversially, the use of Parfact tends often to aim insults at an oblivious victim, much to the amusement of those who comprehend the elements of the cryptolect.
A non-verbal element of Parfact also exists in the form of a military-style salute. Usually accompanying the word parfact with the intention of adding emphasis, the exact technique of the salute often varies from user to user. Original proponents of Parfact apparently insist upon a single, right-handed salute, but witnesses have reported many different techniques:
- frenzied multiple, single-handed salute accompanied by a face of strained determination
- limp, single-handed flourish ending with the reverse of the hand striking the forehead with considerable force
- disguised salute whereby the user mimicks scratching his/her head vigorously behind the right ear
- elaborate asynchronous double-handed salute accompanied by a peculiar dance, often as the user runs at speed
- synchronised double-handed salute, with the user maintaining the final position for several seconds
Interestingly, Parfact is often used in conjunction with a derivative of rechtub klat (a cryptolect used by butchers in Australia to hold conversations without customers overhearing), whereby words are pronounced as if the letters reversed. For example, "permission" becomes noissimrep, and is thus pronounced NO-IH-SIM-REP. Users of Parfact have even been known to combine some of the cryptolect's trademark words with the methodology of rechtub klat, resulting in such words as tcafrap, and gnilrets. Whole sentences can also be reversed in this manner, although it takes rather quick thinking to employ this technique in spoken conversation. Egnellahc a taht si? Orez!
Linguist magazine
In 2004 as "Parfact" begun to attract attention from language experts in Worcestershire, "Linguist" magazine responded accordingly by featuring an article on the cryptolect. Written by a James P. Rushton, the article featured an interview with a local Worcester man named Dan Wilesmith, who claimed to have created the language with an unnamed co-conspiritor. "Parfact" has been the subject of many a heated debate among Midlands-based intellectuals but, as of October 2006, the article in "Linguist" magazine remains the only printed reference to the phenomenon.
This is part of a series of local slang terms which while widely understood in Worcester, can puzzle those not from the area. Use of this word has ocasionally spread from the Worcester area, and there have been recorded incidences of it being used as far afield as Bristol, Fulham, and Newquay. The meaning of "Parfact" has been the subject of many a heated debate by local historians and linguists in Worcester, and has even been the subject of an article pondering its origins in the respected "Linguist" magazine. It is now accepted that the word is a corruption of "perfect", and is used when you might want express sarcastic apprieciation for something or someone.
Examples of use could include - "You win PARFACT" ie sarcastically expressing that the person in question hasn't won at all. This would be correctly used if shouted at someone had just come last in a race, or hadn't won anything with some element of competition.
Sources and further supporting examples to follow.